Tess White

14 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide data on non-attendances for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in NHS Grampian between April and June 2021.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: In their most recent CAMHS Waiting Times Data Quality Report, Public Health Scotland published that NHS Grampian are experiencing challenges reporting on “did not attend appointment” (DNA) due to the functionality of their current patient management system an…

14 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the proposal in its Programme for Government, whether it will provide further details of the short-life Business Purpose Commission for Scotland, including the Commission’s (a) chair, (b) membership and (c) remit.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The 2021 Programme for Scotland announced a short-life Business Purpose Commission for Scotland to promote more purposeful businesses and better corporate governance. The Business Purpose Commission is tasked with considering whether there would be benefits …

14 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the proposal in its Programme for Government, how it plans to support 2,000 women to transition back to work following a career gap; how the figure of 2,000 was reached, and over what time period this transition back to work is expected to take place.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We committed in our 2018-19 Programme for Government to invest up to £5 million over a three year period to support 2,000 women who have had a career break to return to the workplace. This commitment and the scale of ambition built on the learning from our 20…

14 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with businesses regarding the fund to support pilots of a four-day working week; how this funding will be used to support the pilots, and when it anticipates the first pilots will begin.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government has committed to establishing a £10 million fund to allow companies to pilot and explore the benefits of a 4 day working week. The pilot will allow us to develop a better understanding of the implications of a broader shift to a 4 day …

13 Sep 2021 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent cyber-attacks on public bodies.

8 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray will be (a) developed and (b) distributed, and who the target recipients will be.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We will work collaboratively with partners, communities and other stakeholders to take forward the ten-year £500m Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray. The delivery of the Fund will exemplify our co-design and co-delivery approach that will be su…

8 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to fill the reported 406 nursing and midwifery posts that are vacant in NHS Grampian.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The number of staff working in NHS Grampian has increased by 20.7 per cent since Sept 2006, to over 13,520 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE). This includes a 6.9 per cent increase in numbers of Qualified Nurses and Midwives, which have risen to 4,099.1 WTE. NHSSco…

8 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will publish the Just Transition Plan for the energy sector.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Just Transition Plan for energy will be an integral part of the Energy Strategy Refresh which is due for draft publication in Spring 2022.

8 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS boards notify the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care of the Code Black status of hospitals and, if so, how (a) this is communicated and (b) many times this has happened in each of last three years, broken down by NHS board.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: Each Health Board operates their own escalation policy for the management of inpatient capacity that includes well established processes with locally agreed trigger points for maintaining a safe service and ensuring patient safety. Health Boards across the …

7 Sep 2021 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of the Mental Health in Schools Working Group.

2 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Programme for Government for 2021-22, whether it can provide details regarding the Just Transition Commission's (a) chair, (b) membership and (c) remit in the new parliamentary session.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: We announced the launch of the new Just Transition Commission and confirmed Professor Jim Skea as returning Chair on 15 September. Further announcements on the wider membership will be made in due course. Our response to the previous Just Transition Commis…

2 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that NHS boards and health and social care partnerships will be ready to assume responsibility for all vaccinations from October 2021, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government has been working closely with Health Boards to ensure they will be ready to assume responsibility of routine vaccination programmes by the April 2022 deadline of the Vaccination Transformation Programme. Health Boards regularly report …

2 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has taken account of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, extended flu immunisations and COVID-19 booster vaccinations in the funding allocation for the delivery of the wider Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP).

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP) is funded via the Primary Care Improvement Fund, which began in 2018 and will have provided £250 million to health boards up to the end of financial year 2022. The extended flu programme and COVID-19 vaccination …

2 Sep 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) will provide an update on the progress of the Vaccination Transformation Programme (VTP) and (b) anticipates that the VTP will be completed by April 2022.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The Scottish Government is continuing to support Health Boards to develop and implement their plans to transfer routine vaccination delivery from GPs under the Vaccination Transformation Programme. Health Boards are making progress at varying stages, with som…

1 Sep 2021 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.

30 Aug 2021 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to the increase in ambulance waiting times in parts of Scotland.

13 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) Public Health Scotland and (b) NHS boards are collecting data on the way patients access treatment in GP surgeries in light of the changes to face-to-face appointments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: GP practices have remained open, accessible and at the forefront of our community services to deal with non-COVID-19 medical care throughout the pandemic. As outlined in the NHS Recovery Plan, a key aim is to work with our GPs to continue to restore face-to-f…

13 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the cyber-attack on SEPA in December 2020, whether it is aware of any other cyber-attacks on public bodies in the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government works closely with Scottish public sector bodies in improving their cyber resilience capabilities. As a consequence of this work, in December 2017, we introduced a reporting system for public sector bodies to notify the Scottish Govern…

5 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether any meetings of the Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Strategic Leadership Group have taken place since October 2020, and, if so, (b) whether it plans to make the minutes of any such meetings available to access online.

Answer · Michael Matheson: Meetings of the Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Strategic Leadership Group have taken place on 10 December 2020, 18 February 2021 and 19 August 2021. All minutes, once approved by the Group are publicly available on the Scottish Government website Oil and …

5 Aug 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the next meeting of the Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Strategic Leadership Group is due to take place.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Strategic Leadership Group met on 19 August 2021. The meeting was chaired by myself and also attended by Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work. The date of the next meeting has yet to be confirmed.

24 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement made by the Cabinet  Secretary for Finance and the Economy on 23 June 2021 that "Since the pandemic first hit last March, the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport has regularly met the airport sector and the wider aviation sector, and we remain i…

Answer · Graeme Dey: Dates the Scottish Government has met with and currently plans to meet with airports are included in the following table. Date Airport 13-Jan-21 Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) 13-Jan-21 Edinburgh & AGS 15-Jan-21 HIAL 27-Jan-21 Edinbur…

16 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures recording that 85.19% of people from Angus who were referred to the Fair Start Scotland (FSS) programme did not remain in work for more than six months and, in light of this, what action it is taking to address reported concerns that the FSS scheme in the …

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00457 on 14 June 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees…

16 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent each year on the Fair Start Scotland (FSS) programme in (a) Angus and (b) the rest of the country, and whether it will carry out an impact assessment of FSS to determine (i) its effectiveness and (ii) whether it is offering value for money.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Financial expenditure data relating to Fair Start Scotland is broken down by contract area, rather than by Local Authority area. For a breakdown of these contract areas, please refer to Annex A of the Fair Start Scotland Annual Report . The anticipated spe…

8 Jun 2021 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many government tenders were awarded with only one bidder in the financial year 2020-21, and what was the overall value of those tenders.

Answer · Ivan McKee: 217 contracts were awarded whereby only one bid was received. The overall value of those tenders was £24,181,445. This figure includes contracts that were awarded following a competition (often referred to as ‘tenders’), including call-offs from frameworks al…